Essay 7

There are touching pieces of art around the world that have popped up throughout the generations. In the case of The Child soldier by Gilbert G. Ground it is increasingly touching as the meanings, secrets and truth is behind it. To many people in first world countries this type of thing, child soldiers, just doesn’t happen and it shocks the people who inhabit these ignorant countries that this does in fact exist. The sad thing is that these people would more often than not forget these type things because of their surrounding environment. They don’t experience it nor do they ever really see it. It occurs throughout the ages that reminders pop up such as this piece that reminds those who aren’t surrounded with this what is going on around them. The goal of the human race should be experience and self-awareness with what is around them. Pieces of art that serves as reminders are especially valuable to these people so the awareness is increased and maintained.

 

The artist Gilbert G. Ground expresses certain emotions in the piece that one cannot just interpret by one’s self because most lack the experience and emotional connection needed for pieces such as this one. For Ground the experience is very real. This enables him to draw such things as the child soldier and he was at one time surrounded by that environment as he grew up and even experienced it first hand as he was a child soldier himself. While Ground was able to escape that life he was unable to escape the memories that came with it. So as a result to that baggage, Ground didn’t try to bury it but expressed it. He put his emotions out there so he could make the situation to the light so people knew what was going on and bring to the surface the secrets and blatant pain that came with it. For some it may not affect but for many this has brought action. Many organizations are actively trying to stop this cruelty.

 

Overall the piece is very simple yet very complex. It uses simple material yet is holds much emotion in simple drawings. In the back ground the image is of distressed people who would signify war or anything that scare people. Something that would commonly cause children to follow behind the adults and become just as distressed. However the main face in the center is one of a child that sports a soldier helmet that covers his eyes. His features are young and because the helmet covers his eyes it suggests that the helmet is too big for him which signifies his youth. His face has the features of a youth but it is blank. This shows that through everything he isn’t scared like a regular child would be. He’s seen the distress so often that he has no feelings for it, he has been brain washed to not be effected by it anymore.  The distress is evidently caused by the child as well. The gun next to the face is smoking which signifies it was recently used by the child. More than likely he caused the distress that he faces away from. That’s another thing as well, he faces away from the adults instead of towards them, and this suggests that he is not a follower to adults like them anymore but to something else that is controlling him. The same thing that has made him not fears the horrors he does. Lastly the woman to his side, her face while shows distress also mostly shows an expression of knowing the boy and just shocked he did what he had just done.

 

While the art people see a lot today may appeal to the emotional senses they lack a sense of connectivity most of the time. What Ground does gives that missing connectedness to the people so they are more aware of it. He is also expressing his past so he does not bottle it up. He does it in a very unique way too. He doesn’t just draw what he wants to be seen, he draws the truth. He does this by showcasing his change as a child and what he has done and how he has hurt people. That isn’t something to be proud of. He broadcasts it so he doesn’t blindfold people; he gets right into it so nobody questions it. His main focus was expression through truth.